Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

North Pole III

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up,” Rainbow Dash shook her hooves in front of her. “A fighting tournament? Dude, I seriously mean no offense when I say this, but looking around here and learning about you Reindeer and everything really didn’t make me think you guys liked fighting.”

“It is indeed the truth, we Reindeer love to fight!” Ark’Nogt happily proclaimed before a more formal expression came over his face. “However I will need to tell you right from the start that these fights aren’t like the ones you have gone through on your way up here. We fight in formal, sanctioned, matches with rules and referees. We fight for sport, not to the death, and we take pride in this.”

“Hey, I have zero problem with that. I’m just really surprised,” Rainbow Dash shrugged, she still had a fairly disbelieving look on her face.

“So would you like me to tell you about the upcoming tournament then?” Ark’Nogt asked.

Rainbow Dash beamed, shooting right up to his face with her eyes practically sparkling. “You bet!”

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Ark’Nogt laughed. “I’m not a tournament official so I only have general information for you but I’ll do my best. In five days we have a small tournament starting up, normally the big ones are kept for the seasons of pilgrimage when the most Reindeer will be here. However there still might be upwards of a hundred entrants and I know for a fact that some of the others staying at this communal living area have come up here specifically for this tournament.”

“So they’re like, professional fighters?” Rainbow asked.

“Exactly. Or it’s a hobby to them they’re very passionate about.”

“Awesome. If there are Reindeer that care about it that much... this should be a lot more fun than I thought. And so you don’t mind other creatures like ponies fighting too?”

Ark’Nogt shook his head. “There is nothing stopping a pony, griffon, or even a sabertooth from fighting in the tournament. But. There are certain rules you’ll have to keep in mind.”

“Like what?”

Ark’Nogt pointed at her wings. “No flying. The rules are of course based around Reindeer, and we can not fly nor use magic like your unicorn brethren. So as expected none of that is allowed. You can still jump and use your wings to attack or block but flying or even just hovering is against the rules.”

“That’s fine with me, I can still fight plenty good without flying. I’ll just call it a handicap,” Rainbow smugly grinned. “So where do I sign up?”

“Well it’s too late in the day for that now, things are closing up, we’ll have to go there tomorrow. Also it’s not just that these aren’t fights to the death, they’re fairly civil matches. You aren’t allowed to do anything permanently damaging to your opponent, nor break any bones, or use excessive force. And as for registering you probably saw the stadium from above at least for a moment when you came in through the tornado.”

“I think I did, yeah...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head.

“That’s where we’ll go first thing tomorrow morning,” Ark’Nogt smiled. “But yes, for now let’s get you settled in here. I think you may enjoy the company as well.”

“If there are fighters at this place then yeah, I think we’ll have something to talk about.”

“Let’s head inside then.”

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt walked together until the path joined with the cement ground that the building sat on and then they walked towards the door at the end of the building they were closest too. Rainbow Dash saw a few Reindeer going in and out but there were also a couple of ponies and griffons, none of them looked like they were fighters though. When they got inside the building, Dash looked around for reception or anything but all there was was a mostly empty front room with stairs to their right and left. It didn’t look like any Reindeer worked here or managed the place. Down the hallway it seemed like there were a bunch of individual rooms on each side but nothing besides that.

“Uh, am I missing something here? We don’t need keys or have to pay for a room or anything?” Rainbow Dash asked Ark’Nogt.

He shook his head. “As I told you, money is no issue for visitors, so naturally the place specifically built for their home would not require such a thing. And no, you aren’t missing anything. If someone comes here they merely take a free room for themselves and that’s that, let us find a free room for you.”

“Okay,” Rainbow shrugged and followed Ark’Nogt as they started walking down the rows of rooms.

She quickly noticed something about the doors to those rooms, they all had a sliding red placard in the middle of them. It looked like it could be pulled out easily, she wondered what the purpose of them was. Ark’Nogt wasn’t even giving these doors with the red placard a second glance. He walked right by them clearly in search of something else. A door opened up in front of them and they had to pause briefly as a tall and muscular Reindeer came out, he was someone who looked like a fighter, and nodded to them. Despite his more fearsome appearance he just smiled politely like every other Reindeer Dash had seen in Nogt.

But a few more doors down, Ark’Nogt finally stopped. “Aha! Here we are.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the door to see if there was anything different about this one. And indeed there was. Instead of a red placard there was a golden one that Ark’Nogt quickly slid out of place and flipped over, to reveal a red side on the back, and then slid it back into place.

“There, now this notifies everyone that the room is taken.” Ark’Nogt said.

“Oh, so all of these things can just be flipped over when you come and leave?”

“It’s a simple way of doing things, but yes. Now let me show you what is inside your new room,” Ark’Nogt pulled the door open and led them both inside.

A pretty plain affair, it was a one-bedroom apartment with a closet and at least her own bathroom and shower. But the bed was pretty small and only meant for one creature, and not a very big one at that. She did have her own nightstand and lamp beside it though and a window that let her see outside. All in all it was an okay looking enough place to stay in. Like most of the rest of the Reindeer city it was very white too, the sheets, the mattress, the carpet, and the curtains were all just eggshell white. Clean but boring. If this was Rainbow’s room she’d definitely have some cooler and louder looking stuff in here. When she checked inside the bathroom even it was still just sheer white tile.

“Seems like everything is in order,” Ark’Nogt said.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded and turned the faucets on the sink and shower to make sure they worked, and when warm and cold water came out she was satisfied.

“Don’t worry, we make sure that all the necessary upkeep is done here.”

“Wasn’t doubting you, just really wanted to take a hot shower as soon as I could.”

“Well you’ll be able to do that shortly. First I wanted to tell you a little more about this building and some other close by places I think you might find of interest.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him. “Kay, shoot.”

“First of all there is a pool on the roof of this building. I don’t know if you enjoy swimming, you probably prefer flying, but it can be used for exercise as well. It’s open to anyone, you just need to go up the stairs or fly outside to reach it.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Swimming aint my main thing but I don’t hate it. Sounds like a good place to chillax too. What else?”

“I don’t know what chillaxing means but... anyways, if you go past the building on the opposite way from the direction we came from, you’ll find yourself at another park that has an outdoor exercising area. Weights, equipment, all sorts of things that, again, anyone can use are there. I think you’ll find it useful if you’re entering the tournament.”

“Does sound pretty good, I think I’m in pretty darn good shape, what with all the flying and stuff I’ve done to get up here, but I could always beef up these legs of mine, heh.” Rainbow said and rubbed along the muscle of her foreleg for emphasis.

“Good, good,” Ark’Nogt smiled and nodded. “I think that’s everything pressing then. I don’t know if there’s another empty room on this floor or nearby but I’ll find one for myself and leave you be now.”

A knock came on their open door and both Ark’Nogt and Rainbow Dash turned around to see who made the sound.

A doe was standing there with a somewhat embarrassed blush on her face. “Excuse me, but I was walking by and couldn’t help but overhear...”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the doe. Despite being a doe she had a far more athletic appearance to her than most bucks Rainbow had seen in the city, with a more defined musculature than Ark’Nogt standing here. She had big green eyes and stood decently taller than Rainbow Dash while also wearing a red scarf around her neck.

“Uh, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

The doe smiled and let herself in. “My name is Sia’Lorna, I heard Ark’Nogt say you were interested in entering the soon to occur tournament?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “My name’s Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you. Are you going to be fighting in that tournament too?” She then looked between Sia’Lorna and Ark’Nogt. “And you two know each other?”

“Sia’Lorna is a common participant in the tournaments held at Nogt. I have met her many times,” Ark’Nogt explained.

“Yes, I know the Embracers of Nogt well. I travel here more than most Reindeer or other creatures ever do,” Sia’Lorna said, nodding to Ark’Nogt before looking back at Dash. “And yes, I am here again for the next tournament. Usually at these smaller tournaments it’s nothing but Reindeer, so when I heard you speaking, my apologies, but I just had to talk to you.”

“Well talk away. I love talking about myself,” Rainbow said.

“Sia’Lorna was one of the Reindeer who I knew was here that I figured you would want to meet. And vice-versa,” Ark’Nogt said. “And I do believe you have no further need of me for the moment, I will depart and find a room of my own while you two converse with each other.”

“Take it easy, dude. See ya tomorrow?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes, I will drop by as soon as the light crystal turns back on. Farewell for now,” he nodded once to her and to Sia’Lorna and left, closing the door behind him.

Sia’Lorna waved goodbye to him and turned to Dash. “Do you enjoy fighting?”

“Kind of depends but for the most part yeah. And I’ve been in some pretty epic fights in my life,” Rainbow said.

“Then I hope we get the chance to fight each other in the tournament. I would relish the opportunity. Even at the bigger tournaments there are few opportunities for me to fight anyone besides other Reindeer, and they are mostly the regulars who I already know well.”

“Sounds like you really want to have a good fight? Or just do something different than wailing on other Reindeer?”

Sia’Lorna nodded. “Yes, fighting is my passion and I’m always looking for a real challenge or something new to experience. I’ve fought only a few pegasi like yourself before and I’d love to see how you compare to them.”

“Better. That’s how I compare,” Rainbow confidently stated with a smirk on her face.

“I hope your confidence is warranted, you’re making me very excited in anticipation. That is if we actually get the chance to fight.”

“I can guarantee it’s more than warranted. I hope you can keep up,” Rainbow Dash said but winked at her to let the doe know it was all good-natured.

Sia’Lorna giggled. “Oh I believe I can.” She looked at Dash with a questioning face. “So Ark’Nogt already told you about what matches in our tournaments are like?”

“Yep! No flying, no magic, no permanent damage, yadda yadda yadda.” Rainbow Dash said. “And no horns either but I guess you don’t need to worry about that, huh?”

“That’s right,” Sia’Lorna grinned. “Do you know how matches are decided? Or what the format of this tournament is?”

“Uhh... maybe that stuff slipped Ark’Nogt’s mind. He kind of had a lot of stuff to talk to me about,” Rainbow said.

“Well the way the tournament works is fairly simple, especially since this is a smaller one. There will be preliminary matches that aren’t even watched by an audience to thin out the competitors until only thirty-two remain. And after that it’s single match after single match until we have a winner. I can’t even count how many matches I’ve been in in my life...”

“Okay, so no second chances or loser’s bracket or anything. If you lose once you’re out.”

Sia’Lorna nodded. “That’s right, I can recall a few bitter memories of my own from being eliminated at the very beginning. But that hasn’t happened in a long time.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at the implication of that statement. “What else then?”

“Well there are four ways to win a match. First of all, all matches have a ten minute limit, and if the match last’s the entire ten minutes then the decision for who the victor is goes to the judges. Along with the referee who makes sure nothing against the rules is going on, there are three judges watching who take everything about the match into careful consideration to make their decision. But besides decision, you can also knock out your opponent for a win, or get a ring-out, where the referee will count to ten as soon as someone is knocked or thrown out of the ring, or you can win by your opponent giving up and conceding the match. Those are the four ways.”

“More ways to win, just makes it easier for me,” Rainbow dash shrugged.

“I’m sure Ark’Nogt will also go over more with you and help you out tomorrow. I unfortunately will be busy starting a more intense training regimen tomorrow morning.”

“I guess I’ll probably need to get on one of those too. Not like I’m not awesome enough already, but, you know, I wouldn’t want to be rude to anyone by making it seem like I’m not trying.”

Sia’Lorna smiled happily. “I think you’ll just come off as amusing to everyone else.”

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, the light coming into the building from outside vanished and they were plunged into darkness for a brief moment. Dash almost jolted up and asked what was going on but then a light in the ceiling automatically turned on. She looked back at the window and saw that it was suddenly dark outside with only a few points of light elsewhere that she could see.

“The crystal light in the sky just went out. In twelve hours it will return, for now our electrical lights will make do.” Sia’Lorna explained to the clearly confused Rainbow Dash.

“Riiiight, Ark’Nogt mentioned that. So I guess it’s “night” now, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around.

“That’s right, and don’t worry about that light in the ceiling, it came on automatically but there’s a switch by your door for it,” Sia’Lorna said and moved to the side so Dash could see. “And if you would like, I have some tea brewing back at my room. It is still a few hours before I would retire for the night and you seem like quite the interesting creature. I believe we could have quite a lot to talk about, there is plenty more just about our tournaments I could tell you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the hospitable Reindeer. “Sounds awesome. First though, I really want to shower, so how about you tell me which room is yours and I’ll come by when I’m done?”

Sia’Lorna matched her smile and nodded. “Of course, I’m only three rooms down on this side of the hallway in the direction of the center of the building.” She said and pointed the opposite of the way Dash and Ark’Nogt had come in. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She waved goodbye to Dash and opened up the front door, stepping back out.

“See ya soon!” Rainbow said and waved to her as well before closing the door. And now it was time for a hot shower and some relaxation. Her first day up in this mystical Reindeer city and it had gone pretty well. And it looked like there was going to be something pretty awesome for her to take part in too. Maybe things were going pretty well for her.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!